Beginner SFR real estate investor from Austin, TX

[Robb R.]

Hi all,

I've been enjoying the podcasts and the forum for a while, so I thought I should introduce myself. I work in high tech in the Austin area, and live with my family near Austin, TX. I began looking for a buy and hold real estate investment at the beginning of this year, and bought my first two properties in March. 

Not knowing much, I tried to buy properties on the MLS in suburbs of Austin such as Pflugerville and Round Rock. On every offer, I was getting beat by cash offers well over the asking price.

I had been traveling to San Antonio occasionally for work, and by referral met an agent there. He helped me buy a couple of mid-market houses on the far West side of San Antonio, where we were actually able to pay a little under asking price. I formed a series LLC to buy the houses, and have those both rented and managed by a property manager. They're not home runs for sure, but will hopefully be fairly safe investments over the long term.

There have been some bumps and bruises along the way, being a newbie, and having the properties over two hours away from my house. In fact, I'm in need of a new property manager immediately if anyone has suggestions.

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's advice on this site. If my limited experience can help anyone, please ask.